A for Adam
by Whoami24
Summary: A Z for Zachariah Fanfic! Enjoy! After a cataclysmic war and a life-changing accusation, Adam Feinstein lives a quiet life in a cave, away from the civilization of his valley, where a rich family known as the Cambrians rule. Adam doesn't expect much out of his life, until a mysterious girl named Ann Burden arrives in his valley...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: A Splotch

Adam's Perspective

I woke up to the sound of rocks being crunched under feet.

I jumped out of my cot, throwing my blanket to the side. I stood up with a jolt and saw my dad with a box in his hands, looking cross in my "living space".

My name is Adam Feinstein. I am a sixteen-year-old on the run. The leaders of my self-declared nation have called me a fugitive, one who allegedly expelled the mentally unstable heir of the kingdom to the wastelands.

I lived a quiet life, in a small cave out of most people's view. I sleep, eat, work, and live all alone, encountering other humans only every Sunday morning, when either my dad or best friend Aleph would come and deliver resources for me. I occasionally could score a few precious hours with Aleph on the weekends, when we could hang out in and around the cave, but nothing more than that.

The self-declared nation I lived in was known as "The Kingdom of Cambria", ruled by the leaders of the Cambrians, a wealthy family living in our gorge, Fremont Valley, that was renowned for their production of dairy products before the war. Now that the U.S government had been incinerated, the Cambrians took power of our valley, and established a monarchy ruled by the leader of the Cambrian empire: Zacharias Jonah Cambrian.

The other members of the family included Zacharias' wife Elinor Cambrian, John Cambrian, the oldest son of Zacharias and Elinor who ran off a few months ago with one of the Cambrians' safe-suits, and Marie Lyra Cambrian, the vilest and most power hungry of the clan, who's the daughter of Zacharias and some other woman.

The clan ruled our valley loosely, only cracking down on those who went against the Cambrians' policies by using The Cambrians' Royal Guard Forces, often called the Royal Police by most residents. But in recent months, rules for the citizens have become much stricter, thanks to Marie and her tyrannical campaigns.

I was accused of expelling John because I was the most critical of him in the whole valley. He was a middle-aged adult, but he acted like a spoilt child, almost like his sister, except Marie at least was little bit more remorseful than him. His obsessive behavior was sickening for every single resident of the gorge, carping the tiniest mistakes, throwing tantrums, and faking mental breakdowns in front of everyone. I criticized him on several occasions, even making him cry once. The Royal Police never did anything about my panning of John, probably because they hated him too.

I walked towards my dad in my "living space", which was much more like an office, but had the feel of a living room. He looked impatient and upset, as if he was disappointed in me.

"Hey dad. Thanks for the package," I said. I preferred Aleph to deliver the packages, since he wasn't at all like my dad, and was much more optimistic and open to communicating to me.

"You're welcome," he said solemnly. My father was a serious man, stricken with a permanent scowl on his face ever since my mom, Rose, had passed away. She was outside of the valley, out on a shopping trip in Ogden when the bombings came. Me and my brother surprisingly recovered from her death, but my father, a previously happy and jokey man, had become a permanent statue of sadness. I shivered with guilt as I took his package and brought it over to my desk.

I opened the box and saw a carton of eggs, a bundle of fresh vegetables, a selection of fruit in a container, and a book entitled _Diary of a Young Girl._

I recognized the book as Anne Frank's diary, the book that told the story of Anne Frank and her life under Nazi occupation. Suddenly a tear dripped out of my cheek, like the first droplet of rain in a rainstorm. Anne had died in World War Two because of other people's actions. My mom, grandparents, and almost every other human on Earth who couldn't cower away in protective valleys had died in World War Three. Even though so many people warned the U.S and Soviet Union of irreversible effects caused by nuclear war, someone decided to press the nuclear button and let the bioweaponry out anyways. Humanity didn't learn their lesson and got a horrible punishment because of the human race's stupidity.

"Why are you crying Adam?" My father asked. "Men don't cry like that. They don't even cry. They power through their problems like men."

"It's nothing…" I replied sadly, as I shooed him away. "Thank you for the package dad. You're the best."

He left the cave promptly, limping his way out for some reason. I took the food and stored it into the cool alcove in the cave that could store food like a freezer. I put _Diary of a Young Girl_ on my desk, next to my other books.

I took a glance around my cave before I went outside. Off on the far wall was my cot, where thin bedsheets lay messily, and a small cranny where I stored my favourite books: _1964_ , by George Orwell, _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,_ by Jules Verne, _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,_ by Lewis Carroll, and _Sense and Sensibility_ , by Jane Austen. To the left stood my wood desk, where about thirty books sat undisturbed, and a fold-up chair. To the right was the alcove where I stored my food and a shelf where I could prepare food, along with a corridor to another cave in the cliff, one with a hole in the ceiling, perfect for cooking in. All around the cave were candles that illuminated the dark cavern.

I exited the cave through a small passageway that was hidden from the town and Cambrian residence by trees of the forest. Streams of sunlight blinded me as I began climbing on the ledge the entrance to my cave sat on. It was wide enough for a human to comfortably climb up, but the ledge appeared so jagged that from afar, people would think it would be impossible to climb on. But contrary to what most people knew, the ledge was quite smooth, so climbing really wasn't much of an effort.

I had to climb low to avoid being seen by people from afar. My cave was at a much lower height, so I could safely stand and ascent the cliff without being seen when hiking towards my cave, but above, the trees couldn't hide anyone, so I had to stay concealed somehow.

After a long trek, I reached the top of the cliff. Foliage, trees, and grass were here, so I could safely hide behind a bush and do basically whatever I wanted. Today, I was observing the valley, looking at the people below do their day's worth of work. I perched myself behind a large blackberry bush underneath a wide-reaching maple, so I could stay in the shade. I looked through my binoculars and began observing the people do their work.

The town in the valley, also named Fremont, was in the centre of the vale. Farmland owned by the farmers covered the land in the south, and a large forest (the one that hides my cave) covered the southern portion of the valley. To the east, the metamorphic rock of the cliffs stood bare, with a small entrance to the valley located in the rock. Another entrance existed here in the north, behind all the trees and undergrowth, but nobody but me and Aleph knew about it. To the west lay what we called the Death Forest, a forest filled with dead trees with no leaves. The dead trees had existed even before the war, so many of us kids made rumors about monsters and ghosts living in the Death Forest. Nobody really knew why the trees were dead, yet the trees still stand today, like sad reminders of how even before the war, life wasn't that great.

In the town square I saw many recognizable figures I knew. Mrs. Smith, the town baker, set bread and other treats in her display case. Sienna, a former friend of mine was skipping down the street, appearing to be shopping for apparels. A platoon of the Royal Police was positioned near the central well.

I continued looking at town square and even other parts of town until I got sick of it and I laid down in the grass, looking at the blue sky. I took deep breaths, smelling the air like the dog from months ago who came out of nowhere. I was still living with my family when the dog appeared. He had a keen sense of smell and could track people easily, including Marie, who was not impressed when the dog started smelling her purse! He was a cute dog, but he ran away, near the day John Cambrian left the valley. The most memorable memory I had of him was when I named him. A deep feeling inside of me told me to call him Faro for some reason.

I sat up and turned to the right, where the valley was located. It was full of greenery and life, like a festival full of colours. I turned my head to the left, into the deadness. Only hues of grey existed here, black, soot, and grey blending in like a smudged black-and-white photograph on a rainy day. But then, I noticed something different in the deadness. A faint splotch of colour moved in the sea of grey, like a red sailboat in a storm. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, so I blinked several times and refocused my eyes. The splotch was still moving, faster than ever. I took the binoculars and looked through them.

A person was walking towards the valley, with a wagon in tow


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: A Survivor

Adam's Perspective

I could not believe what I was seeing. An actual human, was coming to the valley. Right in front of me.

When we found Faro, I'd thought he came from the outside, but Dad reminded me that that just wasn't possible. He would've died. So why was a human coming from the outside, perfectly fine?

This person was sauntering towards the cliffs I sat on. Energy sizzled through my body as I picked myself up and walked towards the deadness. I stopped six inches away from the edge. I took another look through the binoculars and saw that the person was wearing a suit.

A safe-suit.

It could only mean one thing: John was back. John was back!

That meant I could go back to living normally! Without having to worry about being alone for days on end!

I noticed the person (probably John) was walking towards the cliffs right ahead of me, even though the forest entrance was a bit off to the left.

I needed to make a choice: I could either let John find an entrance, which could cause him to give up out of frustration, causing him to do something rash, or I could signal for him to enter through the forest exit. If I let him find his own way, he might wander off, which could ruin my chances at liberty. But if I showed him the entrance, the potentially useful entrance would be known to everyone, so people could go there more often, leading to the discovery of my cave.

I decided to signal him to the entrance.

I ran towards where I thought the forest entrance was below. Then, I took a pebble from the ground and aimed for John's head. The likelihood of me hitting his head perfectly was so slim, that I didn't even think about it. Finally, I thrusted the pebble with all my might. My mom had always called me a master at accuracy. I was a great thrower in baseball, always aiming for my team members with precision.

The pebble had landed near his feet, but it got his attention. He looked up, towards where I was. I waved my arms and began jumping like a maniac. After a few seconds of getting his attention, I pointed downwards, to where the entrance was. John diverted his track towards the entrance, and I began running for the climbing stairs I got up. I crawled swiftly down the rocks, opening gashes in my knees, but I ignored them. Once I reached a safe height, I stood up and began running down the rocks. I almost slipped on them three times before I reached the ground.

I bolted for the entrance. Even though my surroundings here in the forest were all the same, I still knew where the entrance was. I reached the medium-sized entrance, which could barely fit me while I stood. I stood in the entrance, keeping a good distance from the deadness, but keeping myself in John's view.

I impatiently stamped my foot as John slowly began walking towards me and the entrance. A mixture of excitement and anxiety brewed in my stomach, churning like water brought to a boil. Finally, John reached the entrance.

I backed away as he entered, letting him get through the entrance. For some reason, he looked a little shorter, and much thinner than when I last saw him.

"Uh… Hello?" I croaked awkwardly. He looked… up to me.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

John was a very tall man, standing at 6 feet, 3 inches. His height was always the only thing that intimidated me when I confronted him, other than his bulkiness. But this person was much shorter and was quite thin.

"Who… Who are you?" I asked.

The person put their hands on the latch of the helmet and began pulling the headpiece off.

It was… It was…

A Girl.

This person was a girl.

She had straight brown hair that reached her abdomen. She bore a serious expression, rattled with weeks or months of travel. Her brown eyes locked with mine.

"My name is Ann Burden," she said softly. "Who are you?

"I… I'm Adam," I replied. "Welcome to… Fremont Valley."

"Why… Why did you help me?" she questioned. She had a pained tone in her voice, as if she was having doubts about me.

"Well, if you were watching into the deadness and you suddenly saw a human walking towards where you came from, would you have sat and waited?" I responded.

She seemed to have been analyzing that statement, because I had to wait a long time for an answer.

"I… I would have… And I did," she weakly said.

I was taken aback by this. What? Why would she have done that? And why did she do that?

"W… Why are you… here?" I asked.

She didn't say anything.

"Hey, you must be exhausted by that trip. Why don't you take a break, in my cave?" I suggested. I immediately regretted saying that. Why would she want to come to my home, especially since it's a cave?

"Okay." She replied.

I motioned her to follow as I walked slowly towards my cave. I looked behind my shoulder once every few seconds, just to make sure she could catch up with my long and fast stride. Surprisingly, she did, and with ease it seemed. We reached the ledge we'd have to climb, and I began hiking up the rocks. I motioned for her to follow and she did, ascending the rocks easily, even with the wagon clunking behind her.

After a few minutes of climbing, we'd reached the cave entrance. I came in first, with her slowly coming in from behind. I thought the wagon wouldn't have been able to fit through the entrance, but it did seamlessly. I began helping her with her suit when someone cleared their throat.

I looked towards my chair and saw Aleph, sitting with his left leg over his lap. Aleph had curly brown hair that complimented his olive skin. He wore a grey sweater with a Star of David necklace his grandmother gave him back in Israel. He had raised one of his eyebrows at me.

"Uh… I can explain Aleph…" I began.

"Oh, you don't have to. I can already guess." He joked.

"Who are you?" Ann asked.

"That's a good question. Let me think…" he said as he stroked the facial hair he had on his face. I had to admit, I was a little jealous that he looked much older than me. He was stockier, taller, broader, and manlier, I guess. I was a lot thinner, with a lot less body hair than him. But his jokey personality made up for my jealousy of him. He was always such a funny guy, always looking for the positive things and not the negative ones.

"The name's Aleph, but you can call me Al. What's your name, darling?" he joshed.

"Ann Burden," she firmly replied.

"So… How did you get here?" He asked. I should have asked that instead of _why_ she was here!

She didn't talk for the first few seconds. Then, she spoke up. "I used to live in a valley, almost like this one, but smaller. A man, who had worn this safe-suit, came to my valley. He got sick, and I tended to him. Once he felt better though, he began playing dangerous games with me. Then, he tried attacking me and… and…"

"…And what?" I asked.

"I stole his safe-suit and escaped so I wouldn't have to be with him anymore." She said.

We stood in silence. Her story was quite a grim one. One so grim that even Aleph couldn't crack everyone up.

Then, I realized something. Something ominous.

"Was the man… a little insane?" I said.

"He… He was… Practically insane," she responded.

That could only mean one thing. Me and Aleph looked at each other.

"He must be John Cambrian," Aleph said.

"Who?" Ann questioned.

"He was a mentally unstable man who was the heir to the… leader of our valley. Adam lives here because Adam was accused of expelling him by confronting him and scaring him out of the valley." He replied.

She nodded, looking down at her feet.

"Should we… Present her to the Cambrians?" I asked.

Aleph gave me a look I had never seen before.

"I guess so. I'll have to go." He said.

"Who are the Cambrians?" Ann questioned.


End file.
